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Jo

Daryl's interview was the shortest yet. I wondered if it had anything to do with the dead possum in his hand. The look on Deanna's face when they came back outside made me think so. I bit on the inside of my lip to keep from laughing as I watched him come out of the door. His shoulders were tense and he looked uncomfortable but he was lightly swinging the possum in his left hand. He jogged down the stairs without a backwards glance at Deanna. She was watching after him, frowning. Seemed I wasn't the only one who found themselves confused by Daryl Dixon. 

He walked straight over to where I was sitting in the grass. I was leaning back on my hands, my legs out in front of me with my ankles crossed. Daryl dropped the possum next to me before he sat down into the grass beside me without a word. He seemed more relaxed than I thought possible with us being in a new place. He waited until Rick sent the next person in for their interview before he turned to me. 

"How did it go?" I asked him before he was able to say anything. 

A ghost of a smirk crossed his lips and he jerked his chin towards the dead possum. "It was short." 

I turned to him and arched a disapproving brow while fighting back a smile. "Did you scare the poor woman?" 

They were civilians, every last one of them. They would have never survived outside the walls. 

He snorted. "No, did you?" 

I scoffed. "O f course not, I'm nothing but an academic and a house wife. I was charming and meek, just like I'm supposed to be." 

His smile fell and he pinched his mouth into a grim line. His eyes met mine and I could see the flickers of regret there. He immediately closed off his emotions and he looked away. I instantly regretted ruining our fun together. Now he was tense again. I sighed and leaned my head back, closing my eyes. After a few minutes Daryl got back up and resumed his pacing of the perimeter. 

An hour later two people came around the side of the house. One was a woman in her twenties or thirties who was overweight with a kind smile. The other was a good looking young man in his twenties. The woman was pushing a cart loaded down with food. The man was following at a discrete distance behind her, his hand resting dramatically on the handgun at his waist.  

"Hello?" the woman called tentatively, trying to get the attention of the group. Only a couple people glanced her way, their gaze zeroing in on the cart of food. 

Aaron, who had been quietly speaking with Rick jumped to his feet. "Everyone," he called to us. Everyone in the group stopped what they were doing and looked over at him. He gestured behind him. "I would like to introduce you all to Olivia. She runs the pantry and inventory here." 

The man behind Olivia cleared his throat in annoyance when Aaron said nothing about him. Aaron's eyes moved to him and his shoulders tensed. "And...this is Aidan, Deanna's youngest son." It was very clear from Aaron's body language he didn't think very much of Aidan. 

Aidan stepped forward with a swagger and smiled to all of us. He ran his eyes quickly over the group, hesitating over Rosita, Maggie and I. I didn't think very much of him either. 

"Hello everyone," Olivia greeted uncertainly. "I brought lunch," she said. "It's not much,  just some sandwiches and cookies..." she pushed the cart closer but no one made a move to get up, instead they were all staring at the bottles of water and pile of sandwiches. There was more than enough for each of us. It was more food than most of us had seen in a long time. 

Carol immediately stepped forward. "Thank you so much!" she said flashing Olivia a kind smile. "May I help you serve?" 

Olivia smiled and nodded, though she still seemed high strung and nervous. A woman like this would never have survived outside these walls. I couldn't believe how lucky these people had been. 

It was an odd thing. All the other survivors we had encountered had lived because they were tough, they had done the things they needed to in order to survive. These people had been sheltered and soft living behind their large steel walls. They were like children.  

Olivia and Carol went around pushing the small cart and handing out a sandwich, peanut butter cookie and bottle of water to everyone. Aidan followed behind, his hand resting on the gun at his hip like he was at the OK Corral. He was an idiot. 

He looked down at me and flashed me a confident smile. Before I was handed my sandwich he stepped forward and offered his hand. "Aidan," he said. He was good looking, with dark hair and eyes and he seemed to know it. 

I took his hand, it was clammy and disgusting. I gave him a weak, girly handshake before pulling my hand away and feigning nerves. I smiled back weakly. "Jo," I said in a quiet voice. 

"It's nice to meet you Jo," he said. 

I pinched my lips and nodded, dipping my head and offering him a small smile. I didn't like him. I didn't like the way his eyes ran over me. He reminded me of the douchy guys at bars who hit on girls who were obviously not interested. He was Deanna's son and clearly used to the power that came with that. 

"You as well," I responded because it was the polite thing to say. The smug look on his face made me want to end this conversation right now. 

"I'm so glad we were able to find you," he continued shifting his weight. He puffed his chest up, "and bring you back here where you'll be safe." 

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. As far as I remembered it was Aaron who risked his life and brought us all here. I drew in a slow, steady breath forcing myself to remain calm and keep the pleasant look on my face. It was tougher than I thought. 

In that moment I realized just how tough this lie would end up being for me to maintain. I really wanted to knock this guy on his ass and it was taking everything I had to keep it in check. I was going to drive myself insane doing this. 

"The cookies are peanut butter, I don't like them, but I hear they are pretty good," he told me as though he were conveying some great secret. 

I just stared at him for a beat, unable to construct any emotion to put on my face for that moment. I couldn't imagine turning away food. I couldn't imagine being so secure that I would turn away food over something as petty as not liking the taste. I just couldn't imagine...I shook my head. 

"Well, I look forward to getting to know you better, if you need anything, please feel free to come and find me. I'd be happy to take you on a tour and show you the ropes," he reached out and put a hand on my shoulder. I stiffened. I couldn't help it. I didn't like being touched by strangers and I didn't have enough control of my emotions to hide it. 

I heard the soft movement of feet on the grass behind me but I didn't look to see who it was. I didn't need to look. 

"Daryl," Carol said brightly. She scooped up a sandwich and handed it and a bottle of water to him. I glanced over my shoulder. Daryl took the sandwich and bottle of water, which filled his hands. Daryl's eyes were still locked dangerously on Aidan. He took an aggressive step forward but Carol met him, her shiny bright smile firmly in place. He opened his mouth to say something not very pleasant I'm sure and Carol crammed a cookie into it. 

She moved towards Aidan and I and stepped between us, forcing him to drop his hand. She picked up a sandwich, water and cookie and handed it to me with her carefully constructed smile. I nodded my thanks, took my meal and sat back on the grass. 

Olivia had finished handing out the rest of the food and she turned back to Aidan. "Are you coming?" she asked over her shoulder. 

Aidan nodded distractedly. 

I took a bite of my sandwich and watched his eyes glaze over Rosita who was sitting beside Abraham and Maggie who was sitting alone while Glenn was inside speaking with Deanna. Carl was standing a little ways behind Maggie. He was watching Aidan with narrowed and suspicious eyes. From the look on his face I could see that he had been watching the entire exchange between myself, Aidan and Daryl. He moved over to stand beside Maggie and stared aggressively at Aidan. He rested his hand on his own gun casually while he took a bite out of his cookie. 

I smiled down into my sandwich. Daryl wasn't the only one feeling protective. 

After eating I gave up on being tense. Daryl, Carl and Abraham were all standing with their hands on their weapons and I was't supposed to be one of the groups protectors anymore. I lay back in the grass and closed my eyes, letting the sun warm my skin. Somewhere beyond the garden wall I could hear the children laughing and playing, people were chatting as they walked down the road on the other side of the fence. 

Somewhere near by I could hear the whisper of movement on the grass and I knew it was Daryl, keeping watch and keeping us safe.  It wasn't long before the warmth of the sun, the feeling of security and a full stomach lulled me to sleep. 

I couldn't have been asleep for long before I heard footsteps on the porch. I sat up to see Noah, the last of us to be interviewed coming out of the house. He shook Deanna's hand and she was smiling. She turned to face Rick and gave him a warm smile. Then she turned to address the rest of us. 

"I appreciate your patience while I was conducting these interviews. This community is so important to us and it's people are the most important part of that. I would like to formally welcome you all to Alexandria."  She said it in a way that once more made it feel like she was waiting for us to applaud or thank her somehow. 

Instead we all just stood and waited. I climbed to my feet, my eyes drifting over to Rick. He shifted his weight and cracked his neck and nodded when Deanna looked back to him. He looked over all of us and nodded to us as well. Looked like we were staying. 

I felt someone step up behind me, their presence was a warm line at my back and I knew it was Daryl. 

"Excellent," Deanna said clapping her hands. "We'll just secure your weapons and then Aaron will show you to your houses." 

I frowned at her words. Houses, multiple houses. They were giving us more than one house. They were going to split us up. I tensed. I looked around at everyone else. They didn't seem to notice what her words implied. I felt Daryl tense behind me but I wasn't sure if it was because they wanted to take our weapons or because they wanted to split us up. Either way he wasn't happy and neither way I. 

Olivia suddenly reappeared pushing her empty wheeled cart. She parked it in the middle of the patio in the center of our group. 

Deanna remained on her porch, staring down at all of us as she spoke. It was a position of power. "They are still your guns," she assured us all in a calm voice. "You can check them out whenever you go beyond the wall. But inside here, we don't let people go armed. We store them for safety."

I wanted to snort. They didn't let people go around armed and yet the man on guard duty at the gate and her son were both carrying. 

I leaned back, so my shoulder lightly touched Daryl's. I tilted my head back so only he would hear my words. "Politicians and gun control," I said with a smirk. "Bet she was a democrat." He chuckled once and I bumped my shoulder into him before turning my attention back to the group. 

"You've already met Olivia," Deanna said motioning to the woman. "She is in charge of the inventory in the pantry. The food, supplies and gun storage." 

A heavy silence fell over the group then, all of our eyes were turned to Rick, waiting for him to make the decision. His hand hovered over the grip of his gun. His eyes were troubled and looked far away for a moment and I wondered where he went to in his head. 

I knew where I went, and if I had to I was fairly positive I could guess for Daryl. Rick had always been  a bit of a mystery for me. After a few moments Rick nodded to himself and pulled his gun. He set it down on the cart quickly as though stealing himself before he lost his nerve. Once he set it down he took a few swift strides backwards away from it. 

Olivia stood beside the cart, her notebook and pen in hand. "Rick, a .44 magnum," she spoke quietly as she wrote. 

Abraham was standing beside Rick, he gave him a long, hard look before he finally consented to stepping up and laying down all three of his guns. 

Olivia looked up at Abraham. "Your name is..." 

"Abraham," he growled. 

She didn't look up from her pad, "and you are turning in..."

"A baretta, a sig, and an AK," he said. 

Olivia nodded and her pen scratched across the paper. Everyone took turns, explaining to her their name and what they were turning in. 

Carol smiled warmly at Olivia and struggled to pull the rifle over her head. She set it down gently as though she were afraid of it. "A hunting rifle and a revolver," she said with a soft smile. 

I stepped forward. I lifted the edge of my tank top and struggled to pull the Glock .9 millimeter out of the waist band of my jeans. I forced my hands trembled a little as I set the gun on the cart. 

Olivia looked up at me. "Jo, right?" 

I smiled back at her, warmly. "Yes, yes I'm Jo." 

She smiled again. "And what do you have there?" she asked pointing to the cart with her pen. 

"Um..." I looked down at the cart and bit my lip. "A black handgun?" I offered uncertainly. 

Olivia chuckled. 

"Sorry," I told my shoes. "I'm not really familiar with..." I motioned towards the cart. I turned to walk back to my place but then I stopped and turned back to Olivia, my hand going to the knife on my waist. "Did you want this too?" I offered. They would be taking my knife over my cold dead body, but it was the polite thing to say. 

I moved to remove it from my belt but Olivia immediately waved me off. "No, you can keep your knives." Olivia smiled warmly at me. 

I dipped my chin and went back to my spot. I glanced up and caught Rick watching me with carefully neutral eyes. His gaze flickered back and forth from Carol to me but he didn't say anything.  

When the last of us put our guns on the cart it was nearly overflowing. The pile was precarious and when she moved the cart I tensed, convinced they would all fall. 

Olivia smiled nervously at all of us. "Should have brought another bin." 

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Hey guys I hope you enjoyed the update. It was a little tricky for me to write and it still feels a little rough, so I'm sorry for the delay in getting it out. 

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